by Nick Eatman
The turnout this time around particularly impressed McCullough, considering the team’s 3–4 overall record. Plano was also just 1–4 in the District 6–6A standings and had to win its remaining three games to even have a chance to sneak into the playoffs, including their homecoming matchup with Boyd High School from nearby McKinney, Texas, another growing suburb north of Dallas.
But on this night, these fans didn’t seem to care about the team’s struggles. And for a little bit of the evening, the players didn’t either.
Some of the seniors paired up with Plano’s cheerleaders for a dance-off skit. Seeing bulky linemen such as Darion Foster dance to Katy Perry songs and cartwheel across the gym was always a fan favorite for young and old alike.
Homecoming is a school-wide event for every student organization, but in Texas, it’s primarily associated with and honored through the football team. At halftime of Friday’s game, the king and queen would be announced, along with similar honors for the underclassmen.
This year’s homecoming court included two football players: quarterback Matt Keys and tight end Conley McCabe. That meant the pair not only would miss some of the halftime adjustments during the game in order to be involved in the homecoming festivities, but would also be absent for part of Wednesday’s practice.
“The coaches are never happy about when you have to miss,” Keys said. “But they understand, I think.”
For this team, homecoming came at the perfect time, providing a much-needed lift for the Wildcats, who had just lost two straight city games to rivals Plano West and Plano East.
If it sounded like more of a buzz was circulating throughout John Clark Field on this night, it was probably just the plethora of mums being worn in the stands. Mums come in all shapes and sizes, and literally include a variety of bells and whistles. The latter actually would cause a problem in the first half of the game as a few students stopped the action on the field before a snap by blowing their whistles from the stands.
Just before kickoff, the nearly full home side gave a standing ovation to the members of Plano’s 1965 state championship team, who were honored before the game. Led by Coach John Clark, the same man for whom the stadium is named, the Plano alumni waved to the crowd while donning their jerseys and the numbers they wore when they gave the city its first-ever championship with a 20–17 win over Edna High School.
Given the heightened anticipation that comes with homecoming, the Plano coaches were hoping the energy would generate improved play on the field. With the Plano student section in a frenzy, the older fans excited about reliving some of their glory years, and the players on the field knowing their backs were against the wall, the Wildcats seemed destined to have a fast start.
However, after a couple of first downs to begin the game, Plano’s offense stalled when Keys was picked off and the interception was returned just across midfield into Wildcat territory. On Boyd’s third play from scrimmage, the Broncos then grabbed a 7–0 lead on a 45-yard touchdown pass that stunned the Plano faithful.
The Wildcats, though, had an answer, putting together a lengthy fifteen-play drive that included five first downs. Keys was finally able to muscle his way into the end zone off a 1-yard run to tie the score.
As he came off the field, the quarterback looked up at his peers in the student section and gave the biggest fist pump he could muster, letting them know he was not only hearing their constant enthusiasm, but it was working.
Sadly for the Wildcats, that would be their last score of the game.
At halftime, Keys and McCabe ran out of the locker room to join their parents and respective dates for the Homecoming ceremonies. But in what would turn out to be somewhat of an ongoing theme for the night, both players came up short in their quest for the title of homecoming king.
In the third quarter, Boyd grabbed a 14–7 lead, but midway through the fourth quarter, the Wildcats were knocking on the door yet again with a chance to tie. Here they were in an eerily similar situation to their last home game against Plano West—trailing by the same 14–7 margin and trying to score down in the stadium’s north end zone. The Wildcats fell short on a fourth-and-goal that night, and now faced another fourth-and-goal from the 1-yard line with about eight minutes to play.
“We went to our bread-and-butter,” McCullough said. “It’s a play we’ve run over and over and had success with it.”
The Wildcats hurried to the line hoping to catch the Broncos off guard and loaded the right side of their formation with two tight ends and a fullback shaded to the right of Keys in the backfield. Running back Brandon Stephens lined up in the I formation.
Unfortunately, though, Boyd stacked that side of the field as well with defenders, and even though many eyes went with Stephens, there were enough Boyd players to stick with Keys, who kept the ball on a speed-option run. He was stopped for a 3-yard loss.
“There was just nowhere to go,” Keys recalled. “They stacked the line, and I just ran it right into them. I felt right then, that was the game. We had to score and we didn’t.”
Plano’s defense didn’t help matters, allowing the Broncos to then march ninety-six yards for a touchdown and an insurmountable 21–7 lead.
With the game out of reach, Keys had a “what could’ve been” moment when he barked out a play and was stopped in mid-sentence by Stephens.
“He said, ‘Hey, just give me the ball. I’ve got this one,’ ” Keys said of Stephens, who hadn’t been able to break loose all game. “And so we change the play and he takes it and breaks about five tackles for twenty-five yards. Right then, I remember thinking how great he was. I felt bad for him because he was such a great player and the blocking just wasn’t there for him. He rarely called for the ball, but he did on that play.”
It wasn’t enough, as the Wildcats lost their third straight game, which officially eliminated them from the playoffs for the first time in four years; none of these seniors had ever experienced a year at Plano without the postseason.
And don’t think that was taken lightly.
When defensive backs coach, Chris Fisher, got home later that evening, he was met quickly by Foster, his live-in nephew who views “Uncle Chris” more like his father. At home, the two usually try to maintain a family atmosphere, leaving the coach-and-player relationship at the school. But on this night, there was no avoiding the reality.
With tears rolling down his cheeks, the young eighteen-year-old just collapsed in his uncle’s arms, bawling his eyes out.
“Uncle Chris, I’m sorry,” he said with a trembling voice. “I’m sorry we didn’t get it done. I’m sorry we didn’t have what it takes to win.”
Fisher felt the same as his nephew, but still, seeing the agony right in his own living room was hard to take.
“You want him to have that chance to play (in the state finals) and have that success,” Fisher said. “That’s our standard. And he felt like he let me down. He knows we’re judged as coaches. For some kids, they get upset. But for a coach’s kid, they realize the ramifications of not making the playoffs. That was so hard on him.”
Meanwhile, Stephens had a similar moment in his own living room. Leaned on all season, he was expected to carry the Wildcats not only into the postseason, but perhaps deep into the playoffs. Instead, following a much-needed bye week, his senior year had just two games left.
While he wanted to relive each play from the game and wonder how things could’ve been different, Stephens knew he had to get some rest.
In some eight hours he was about to put a different set of skills to the test—literally.
Saturday
By NCAA rules, football programs can only give out eighty-five scholarships in a school year. That might sound like more than enough, considering only twenty-two players are deemed starters. But when you account for redshirted players, injuries, and having adequate depth to make it through
a season, scholarships are precious and coaches never seem to have enough.
At the end of spring practice, the Baylor staff had a heart-to-heart talk with senior defensive tackle Trevor Clemons-Valdez, who had been with the team for four years and had finished his undergraduate degree. He was working on his master’s in sports management and had another year of eligibility, but the writing on the wall was clear: he would likely only be a special teams player, and his scholarship would be better suited for somebody younger.
Like the team player he’d been throughout his time with the Bears, Clemons-Valdez, or “Chubber” as his teammates and coaches called him, agreed to hang up the cleats. But he wanted to stay close to the team and so asked to be a defensive intern, helping out the program even while paying his own way.
All summer and during fall practices, Clemons-Valdez charted plays, helped cut up videotape, and did any other grunt work the coaches needed. But during Baylor’s bye week, he was hunting with some of his buddies when an idea popped into his head. Knowing the team had just dismissed starting tight end, Tre’Von Armstead, for disciplinary reasons, Clemons-Valdez wondered if he could simply walk on again and help out as a blocking tight end, a position he hadn’t played since high school in Copperas Cove, Texas.
“Knowing we needed help at the position, he asked me if he could come back,” Art Briles said. “We loved him for doing that and helping us. He’s always been a really unselfish player. He’s one of those people who plays the game for the right reason—and that’s for everyone else in the room.”
For Clemons-Valdez, he was just happy to be back in the room once again. Mostly a reserve defensive tackle, who did get seven starts during his career, Chubber had lost about twenty pounds over the summer since he didn’t figure he would continue playing. It wasn’t long, though, before he was back in shape. He made his return against Texas Tech and saw limited action at Kansas, but couldn’t have been happier to be on the field to face West Virginia, the team that handed Baylor its only regular-season loss in 2014, essentially knocking them out of playoff contention.
To the Mountaineers’ credit, they surprised Baylor that day, running a brand-new defense, designed strictly for the Bears. West Virginia ran a “Cover 0” scheme, freeing up a defender to blitz on every snap. The way to combat that, for Baylor’s offense, was to allow the quarterback to run the ball, something that wasn’t exactly Bryce Petty’s strong suit.
This time around, the Bears knew Seth Russell had the ability to really run, but hadn’t had to yet. If West Virginia came out with the same approach, the coaching staff was confident that the results would be different.
When the game started, one thing was clear: Baylor knew exactly who had defeated them in the 2014 regular season. On the second play of the game, Russell and the Bears sent a message—by air—to the Mountaineers that this year was indeed going to be different. Russell threw one of his best passes of the season, heaving a throw that traveled nearly half the football field before landing perfectly in Corey Coleman’s arms for a 50-yard gain to the West Virginia 15.
Another indication of what was to come that day was also revealed on the play, or just after it. Coleman got up and immediately traded verbal jabs with West Virginia cornerback Daryl Worley. It was foreshadowing at its best, as Coleman and the Bears would drop bombs on the field and from their mouths all afternoon.
Two plays later, Baylor got the look it expected, allowing Russell to have a huge lane on the left side for an easy touchdown run. The Bears took a 7–0 lead just fifty-eight seconds into the game, prompting sophomore receiver KD Cannon to yell to his teammates as he came to the sideline, “All damn day! All damn day and don’t let up. They can’t stop us.”
For the most part, Cannon was correct, but it took a bit longer than just one drive to get there.
While the quick touchdown continued the team’s streak of scoring on the opening drive of the game, the Baylor defense kept another discouraging trend up as well. West Virginia became the fifth opponent to score on its first possession against the Bears. West Virginia’s Shelton Gibson was wide open right in front of the Baylor bench and scooted across the field untouched for a 70-yard touchdown to temporarily quiet the raucous McLane Stadium crowd.
“Be disciplined!” Phil Bennett screamed in the direction of safeties Chance Waz and Travon Blanchard as they walked off the field. “What are we doing out there? You guys have to pay attention.”
Bennett had always been a fiery complement to Briles, and the head coach again kept things positive with some cool confidence that his offense would return the favor.
“That’s all right. Get it back, O. We’re going to go right down and score,” Briles said to center Kyle Fuller and the rest of his offensive-line compadres as they strapped on their helmets again.
Briles knew his team well, especially the offense. Baylor answered right away, making Fox Sports television announcer Gus Johnson sound like a prophet. Just as he finished raving about Coleman, calling him a “freakish athlete,” the junior receiver made another dynamic catch-and-run over the middle for a gain of forty-two, nearly giving him a 100-yard day less than four minutes into the game. Coleman finished off the drive with one of the easiest slant patterns he’d ever gotten, catching a 2-yard touchdown pass, which prompted him to immediately turn back at Worley and continue their jawing match, one that wouldn’t stop until the final gun.
While his celebrating teammates corralled him on the sideline, the always-intense Kaz Kazadi kept him grounded.
“Keep eating, ‘C,’ ” he barked. “Stay hungry! Let’s go.”
But perhaps Coleman didn’t get the message so clearly. After the defense “held serve,” as the coaching staff likes to call it, using a tennis reference, the offense didn’t cash in as expected. On a third-and-11 play near midfield, Coleman was supposed to run to the sticks and stop on a hitch route. Instead, he somewhat weaved down the field and barely got a hand on the pass, which would’ve been on target and enough for a first down.
Knowing what a two-score lead can do to the psyche of Baylor’s opponents, Kendal Briles nearly lost it on the sideline. His cap went flying, as did a few verbal pleasantries. As the receivers got back to the bench, Kendal circled the wagons for a moment trying to cool off, but he couldn’t help himself.
He lit into Coleman, explaining the expected route over and over. When a couple of head nods by the receiver didn’t stop his coach’s tirade, Coleman finally barked back.
“Coach, I fucked up, coach. I got it.”
That seemed to finally calm Kendal down. He knows Coleman is his most explosive player, and like the receiver just said, he knows Coleman “gets it” more often than not.
More sideline fireworks occurred after Baylor’s next drive, one that again didn’t lead to a touchdown. Jay Lee was open on the right side of the end zone, but Russell’s pass was in the corner, forcing the senior receiver to torque his body at the last moment. In doing so, he couldn’t get two hands on the pass.
While Baylor settled for a field goal, Lee didn’t like one of the younger running backs telling him, “You gotta catch that!” Lee went off and had to be held back. He was literally pushed backward to a seat on the bench.
The temperatures were hot enough in Waco, and even hotter on the turf. But only a 10-point lead with a couple of failed offensive drives had things boiling even more.
In the second quarter, West Virginia trimmed the advantage to 17–14 before Russell and Coleman went to work again. Russell’s 46-yard run right up the middle of the defense moved Baylor to the Mountaineers’ 11.
McGowan and his teammates hurried to the line of scrimmage before Baylor changed its personnel package and sent the tight end back to the sideline.
“Stay here, big guy,” Art Briles said to his winded 400-pounder. “We’re going to need you here in a second. Get ready. Get a quick drink of wa … touchd
own!”
Briles couldn’t even finish his sentence. The offense didn’t need more than one play for Russell to find Coleman in the end zone for this third touchdown, a record-breaking one at that.
Just six games into the schedule and the junior receiver had already set Baylor’s single-season record for touchdown catches, surpassing Kendall Wright, who had fourteen in his senior year of 2011, which helped him become a first-round draft pick the following spring.
And even though it was still halfway through the year, Briles already knew there was a better than good chance that Coleman would be heading to the NFL as well. Games like this one against West Virginia certainly didn’t hurt his draft stock.
In the second half, the Bears could virtually do whatever they wanted to offensively. The Mountaineers’ defense had been softened up by the run, so now Russell could pick apart the secondary.
Coleman added another highlight-reel touchdown grab, showing once again his ability to stop and start better than anyone. After catching a slant over the middle, the electrifying receiver stopped in the middle of the field, letting the cornerback fly past him, and then switched directions and outraced the remaining defenders to the end zone.
“You breakin’ dem ankles, CC,” shouted one of the freshman receivers who practiced with Coleman every day.
But it wasn’t just Coleman making plays. Lee was having some fun as well. He caught two third-quarter scores to push the margin out to twenty-four, giving Baylor some breathing room heading into the final frame.
Coming off the field after his second touchdown, Lee was met by an amped-up Kendal Briles, who gave him a friendly slap to the facemask. “That’s how you finish!”
Lee then got a hug from a former player in street clothes. “I see you, four. Way to wear the four,” said David Gettis, who was a wide receiver for Baylor from 2006 to 2009 and obviously had worn that jersey as well.